Abyssus Abyssum Invocat
by VHDL
Summary: Whoever said revenge is sweet, knew what he was talking about. Follow Harry Potter as he fights to gain control of his destiny, understands the meaning of manipulation, and on the way discovers heaven as well as hell...
1. Inspired by Abe

It was to a hot, dreary summer morning that Harry Potter woke up screaming out. His godfather's name on his parched lips, he sat up straight on the rickety old bed graciously provided to him by his only living relatives, the Dursleys.

Hedwig, his beautiful snowy owl sat cautiously on a wooden perch he had made himself, his first week back home after doing some cleaning chores in his Uncle Vernon's all-purpose garden woodshed.

She gave a feeble hoot and hopped slowly to him, whom she had fondly christened '_Harry Wizard'_. If Harry Potter had understood owl-speak he would have realized just how much she had come to love him ever since his first year and understood the mental anguish he was going through.

Gently rubbing her soft head against his hand, she looked at him questioningly as if asking him if she could help him in any way possible. Harry slowly drew his hand from his forehead which he had been pressing with his fingers and gently stroked Hedwig, reassuring her that he was all right.

With a disbelieving look, she gave him a gentle nip on his ear and flew back to her perch, her amber eyes looking out of the window as if daring anyone to come and disturb the quiet yet intimate moments she shared with him.

Harry slowly climbed out of his bed and stretched his limbs, loosening his joints and put on his weather beaten trainers. He opened the small closet in his bedroom and took out a protein bar from a big box and carefully un-wrapped it.

He had bought himself some nutritious food items on his second day home after visiting a local grocery store knowing fully well that the Dursley's fear of '_those awful freaks'_ as Uncle Vernon had so succinctly  put it, would soon vanish after a few weeks at home. He treated himself to a cold glass of orange juice downstairs and made his way out of Number 4, Privet Drive.

It was well after an hour that Harry came back home, with sweat glistening on his face and a wet T-shirt clinging to his chest. For the past few days he had been going for morning runs to rid himself of his frustrations and fears that slowly built up in his subconscious mind in the night and gnawed away his few hours of sleep. It gave him some time to clear his mind and think about nothing except feeling the oddly comforting wind carrying through his ears.

This was his second week back from Hogwarts and Harry had decided to make some changes in his life.  This change in his attitude was however not brought forth overnight. He had been reading some of Dudley's discarded books to take his mind of things, when he came across a speech by a famous and well admired leader of men, Abraham Lincoln.

He had been so thoroughly moved by the speech that he had in fact memorized it in its entirety. Slowly, word by word he recited it in his mind:  

"_Four score__ and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. _

_Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war._

_ We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. _

_But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract._

_ The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here._

_ It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. _

_It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us--that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion--that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth. "_

'Yes', he thought, 'Sirius had not died in vain. He had died protecting him, Harry Potter. He had died protecting a way of life. He had died for love.'

'James Potter, his father had not died in vain - he had died protecting his wife and their one year old son. He had died protecting his family. He had died for love .'

'Lily Potter, his lovely redheaded mother had not died in vain – she had died protecting her child. She had died for love.'

'Cedric Diggory, his Tri-wizard competitor and fellow Hogwarts student had not died in vain. He had died with honor, showing till last the qualities that Helga Hufflepuff so fiercely admired.'

'But none of them got to live their lives to it's fullest. They were all victims of hate and one way or the other – Voldemort.'

'Voldemort. The word immediately brought to fore a mixture of feelings in Harry's mind. Anger, hate and an extreme need to be wipe him off the face of Earth. He wanted to banish him to the depths of hell, from where he would never return and suffer punishment for his sins and innumerable crimes till the end of all existence.'

'But how am I going to do that', he thought. 'That vile creature has had so much time to learn and master the dark arts; whereas I am just a nobody in front of him. What can I do? Will Dumbledore help me learn? Lupin, Mad-Eye Moody? Professor McGonagall?? WHO WILL HELP ME? They can't just think that I will clear my NEWT's and go fight him off and face his army of Death Eaters. WHAT THE BLOODY HELL SHOULD I DO?'

His thoughts immediately went back to the duel in the graveyard at the end of his 4th year. 'Wait a second! I do have a few advantages over him. Our wands don't work against each other. He is too proud to just go and get another wand because of poor, pathetic Harry Potter, the perpetual thorn in his side. Plus the prophecy that Dumbledore mentioned. _The power that the Dark Lord know not. _Yes. I definitely have some advantages. I need to learn more about this.'

He had resolved to tell Hermione about the prophecy. She had always supported him even when Ron had backed out of his friendship during the Tri-Wizard tournament. He knew Ron would also support him in his endeavors and stand by his side but for some reason felt it better that only Hermione know about it. Her vast knowledge and razor sharp intellect had helped them time and again in many a tight spot.  'And this was as tight as it gets', he thought with a mental sigh.

Her unwavering loyalty was what finally made him decide that she was the one he had to share the prophecy with.

'So that's that. What should I do with my summer then?  Ahh. But, of course. Learn to hold my own when facing Death Eaters. Bellatrix LeStrange, Lucius Malfoy, Avery, Nott, Jugson, Mcnair. So many of them. They all tried to hurt me, hurt my friends. Bellatrix killed Sirius. I will get her for that.'

The D.A. had helped him better some of his offensive and defensive skills but after having the duel between Voldemort and Dumbledore, two of the most powerful wizards in Europe, he realized he still had a long way to go.

He was abruptly broken from his thoughts when he heard a loud shout from downstairs. "POTTER, COME AND GET YOUR LUNCH!"

And with that Harry went downstairs. After quickly finishing his lunch, he came back to his room and fed Hedwig some of the meat-pie from lunch and a few owl treats from his trunk.

The day had just started and Harry Potter had some serious planning to do.

TBC.  


	2. Wizard in Training

The next day a parliament of owls could be seen going in and out of the window of the second bedroom at Number 4, Privet Drive. Harry had requested a mail-order catalogue from Flourish & Blotts and ordered a number of books from them on a wide variety of subjects.  Some of the books were quite expensive due to their rarity but Harry had spared no cost in getting what he needed.

 He soon started arranging the books in order on a small shelf by his bed.  _Advanced Dueling for Hit-Wizards_ by Hugo Colterus went to the top row. Placed closely by its side were _Occlude your mind_ by Ursula Bathbarry, _The Lost Arts of Leglimency and Aura Reading_ by Septimus the Third and _Explore your Inner animal_ by Tobias Wilomonta.

The second row comprised of _The Complete Laws and Statutes of the British Ministry of Magic_ by Lego Legalius, _Charm Your Way to Victory_ by Rosamunda Whitle, _Transfiguration Secrets_ by Robertus McGonagall, and finally the previous year's prescribed sixth and seventh year textbooks for DADA, Transfiguration and Charms. 

He neglected buying any text for Potions and other subjects like Arithmancy because he knew it would take him lot of time to gain a thorough understanding of them and they would not be particularly useful to him in a duel.

Giving his new acquisitions a satisfied look, Harry took out his old Hogwarts textbooks and started categorizing them subject-wise form Grade 1 and so on. 

"Hey girl, you must be pretty tired", he fondly asked Hedwig. She gave a feeble hoot of affirmation and he refilled her water bowl and put in a few extra owl treats in front of her perch.

By the next week Harry finished reading his old Hogwarts texts. He practiced his wand movements with the leg of a broken chair Dudley had managed to break after sitting on. He lightly fashioned it into a close replica of a wand, enough to get his grip right and the weight balanced out.

He kept up with his morning runs and managed to squeeze a dozen of push-ups every few hours in his room. Harry kept dropping subtle hints to his Uncle and Aunt about the man with the bowler hat who would be coming to check up on him sometime soon. 'The power of plausible deniability' he thought with great relish after seeing the nervous condition of his relatives. He thought this was a fitting payback to them for all their harsh remarks about _his kind_ they had managed to squeeze in their short but cruel conversations with him over the period of five years. This also ensured he was getting second helpings at lunch and dinner to the great distaste of _darling Dudders_.

Even though his frame was still short and slightly skinny he was from the under-nourished kid he had been earlier.  His nightly exercises to reign in wandering thoughts and clear his mind, which he had learned to do from his Occlumency book, had helped him get much needed rest that had been viciously eluding him since last summer. 

Another two weeks later, Harry has gleaned all the important information in the sixth and seventh year curricula. With some actual practice with a real wand for sometime, Harry thought he could actually pass his NEWT's with an acceptable grade and an exceeds expectations grade in DADA. He had also gained some stamina and his muscles though not really developed, were starting to harden and show cuts though not very visible.

By the time the wane end of July approached, he had mastered Occlumency and could build impenetrable mental walls at a seconds notice. He practiced his Leglimency skills on his relatives especially Aunt Petunia. Looking deep into the eyes of the fat blob of an Uncle and the whale clone of a cousin that had somehow managed to learn to walk on land, was not very appealing to Harry. Vernon's twittering moustache always managed to distract him from his goal. So completely unknown to the Dursleys, they were the test subjects of their famous wizard nephew. The only useful thing that he learnt from them was discerning between truths and lies, and reading their emotions the back of his hand.

Harry was surprised to learn that Vernon feared him even though he put on his most fearless and imperial expressions when trying to order him around. This was nothing compared to the shock he got when he figured there was a distinct feeling of pride underneath his Aunt's contemptuous glare that she frequently gave him. After learning that, however harsh her tongue he always answered her politely and without asking her, helped her in her chores from tie to time. The flare in the feelings of affection and pride he picked up from her, only served to reinforce his resolve that he would anything to protect her from Voldemort and his minions.

Harry, even though having theoretically mastered the wand techniques and movements that accompanied various curses, jinxes, hexes and counter-curses from his highly advanced dueling, charms and transfiguration books, was feeling severely handicapped by not being able to perform actual magic wit his real wand.

He was itching to animate Dudley's broken toys that were lying in his room and practice some extremely advanced shields, like the one he had seen Voldemort holding at the battle at the Ministry.  Harry knew he could perform most of the spells but seeing the fruits of his hard labor first hand had a different feeling of its own.

The book on British Wizarding Laws also provided him with some very useful insight into the existing legal system. He had some ideas running around his head about some legal loopholes he could exploit, but wanted to confer with Lupin first. After all, failing short of being actively persecuted for being a werewolf, Lupin he thought must have had quite a few run-ins with a law and other legal hassles werewolves were subjected to. 'Yes, Lupin is the best person to talk to about this', Harry thought.

 He didn't want Dumbledore to be privy to his plans because he was the newly re-instated chief of the Wizengamot. Dumbledore would be an integral part of his future plans but he still needed to maintain some distance from him, so that when he dropped the bombshell on the Order, they would not be able to stand in his way and _Molly-Cuddle_ him.

With a hearty chuckle, he took out a quill and some parchment and started writing a letter to Moony.

TBC.


	3. Wolfish Grins

_Dear Moony,_

_I was hoping we could talk to each other about some things. I can't write much in this letter though. Hedwig will wait for your reply. Looking forward to seeing you soon._

_Harry._

Satisfied with the slightly ambiguous tone of the letter, he turned to his owl. "Hedwig, take this to Professor Lupin. Be safe. Okay?" She faintly bobbed her head conveying to him that she would all right and swiftly flew out of the window with a mental picture of Lupin in her mind.

Late in the evening, Harry received a response from Lupin saying that he would be there to talk to him the following day around noon.

It was sharp at noon the next day that the front door bell rang. Dudley, thinking it was Piers and Polkiss immediately went to answer and was horrified to find a shabbily dressed man with graying hair. He immediately recognized him as one of the _freaks_ from King's Cross Station and ran to call his mother with one hand on his backside.

"MUM, MUM," he shouted halfway through the way to her room, "ONE OF HIS KIND IS IN THE HOUSE!" Petunia immediately got up on hearing this and went to confront the visitor.

Looking up and down at Lupin with great distaste, she called out to Harry who was just waiting by the end of the stairs trying to sense the new wave of emotions that she was now wearing on her sleeve.

It turned out that the disgust that she showed on her face for Lupin was also what she was feeling in abundance. Momentarily disconcerted by the sheer intensity of the off-putting emotions that were rolling of her in waves, he quickly put his Occlumency shields up and turned to face Lupin.

Lupin's first reaction on seeing Harry was that of complete and utter astonishment. 'Here was a young man, barely sixteen years old, with the weight of the world on his weak shoulders and he was THE picture perfect definition of tranquility'.

But after a brief glance at his new frame and build he thought, 'did I just say weak shoulders, WOW, - scratch that, looks like Harry has done some serious growing up!'

"Hello Moony, how are keeping up?" Just a simple sentence. But the power hidden in his tones was apparent to anyone with a good ear. 'Merlin, WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO THIS KID IN JUST TWO MONTHS???' Lupin reflected on Harry for the third time in two minutes.

After a brief embrace in which Harry projected his love and respect for his old Professor and best friend of his parents, he asked Lupin if he would like any refreshments.

Lupin politely declined and asked Harry if he would like to continue the conversation in his room, after seeing Harry's Aunt and cousin standing close by and looking at him with a mixture of fear and hate.

"Sure, let's go upstairs", Harry replied. Once comfortably settled in Harry's room, he gave out a low whistle when his eyes landed on his Harry's tiny library. "Merlin Harry, some of those books you've got there are really rare", Lupin told him appreciatively. 

Harry shrugged but inwardly he was thinking about whether or not the owner of Flourish and Blotts edited the mail-order catalogue for him, since some of the books he had were really quite old and would have been sold out instantly had they been on display in the shop.

"Thanks" he answered after a brief pause. "Moony, I want to get straight to the point with you. You are one of the few people I trust and there are some things I need to discuss with you. But first you must swear that what I am going to tell you doesn't go out of this room. No one in the Order should know anything related to our conversation especially Dumbledore".  

To say the least, shocked was an understatement for what Lupin was feeling right now. Here he was thinking that Harry would want to talk to him about Sirius or try to get news about Voldemort and his lapdogs. 'This day is certainly turning out to be different'.

'Oh well, might as well see what the cub has to say'. "Okay Harry, I promise I will keep our conversation absolutely private except if you are planning to do something really dangerous, like going after Voldemort!" he answered back with complete honesty.

Harry sensing his sincerity went on about why he originally asked him and what he was planning to do in the coming week.

By the time Harry had finished his explanation, Moony was looking at him slack jawed and after closing and opening his mouth a few times, gave a hearty laugh and finished with a wolfish grin.

"Harry, you are definitely the son of Prongs", but immediately his expression turned serious. "I know this is a really clever idea and quite well thought out Harry, but things could get really nasty if something goes wrong".

"What if –", but Harry instantly cut him off before Lupin could start voicing his objections.  "NO MOONY, I've little left to loose now. Sirius is gone now. I have to do this for him and it's time someone took a stand. I choose to be that person. I never asked for it, but I've to do it. Either you are with me or not Moony. I HAVE TO START TAKING CONTROL OF MY OWN GODAMN LIFE".

Realizing he was loosing his control, he calmed himself before continuing and softly asked his mentor and friend, "what will it be Moony?"

With a contemplative look on his Lupin took a deep breath and replied in the same soft tone, "I am with you Harry, all the way".

Harry's serious expression immediately mirrored the same wolfish grin he had seen on Moony's face after he had just finished telling him his plans and said, "Okay. Let's go over what we've got to do".

TBC.


	4. Leagle Eagle

Lupin shuffled closer to Harry when he beckoned him, his finger tracing over a paragraph in his recently acquired book - _The Complete Laws and Statutes of the British Ministry of Magic_.

"In the context of emancipated minors, emancipation is essentially a legal procedure whereby children become legally responsible for themselves and their parents are no longer responsible (financially or otherwise) for their children.

Thus, emancipated children are freed from parental custody and control and essentially become "adults" in many ways.

As soon as wizard or witch turns 17, he or she legally becomes an adult and is automatically emancipated from parental custody and control.

To become an emancipated minor, the child over the age of 12 has to petition the Familial Affairs Wing of the Wizengamot and obtain a declaration of emancipation from a judge, which can sometime be a complex proceeding."

Harry then flipped over to another chapter relating to muggle-born wizards and witches and eagerly showed an underlined paragraph to his father's best friend.

"Muggle-born wizards or witches or any other wizard or witch who was brought up in muggle world with their traditions and who satisfies the set condition of not having been in any intentional contact with the magical world for 10 or more years can choose to be judged by muggle laws, under the strict condition that he or she has not intentionally caused harm to any magical person.

For guidelines of what constitutes willful harm see page 378."

"Come on Moony, why am I showing you this again when you just read it 10 minutes back", Harry asked.

"I don't want you to get into undue trouble if we read a clause wrong, Harry".

"Remember, that is why you asked me to come here in the first place, who is the legal veteran here, Huh?"  Lupin answered back with a patient voice.

"All right, here's the other book". With that Harry passed over another heavy book on muggle laws to Lupin which he had obtained from Vernon's collection of books he had proudly arranged downstairs to impress visitors about how well-educated his family was.

"In the case of an orphaned minor, he or she can become legally emancipated simply by declaring themselves emancipated at a court's registry, unless he or she is under the age of 14. "

"Yes, that pretty much covers it. You, Harry are absolutely correct in thinking that you have met all the conditions and will be recognized legally as an adult by the muggle world.

The Ministry of Magic will be forced to grant you all the privileges that come from being an adult wizard. I can see nothing in these laws that can be turned around by Fudge and his associates to cause you any further grievance".

Harry gave a triumphant smile and enthusiastically pulled at Lupin's sleeve. "So what are we are we waiting for Moony??? LET'S GO TO THE COURTHOUSE!!"

An hour and a half later, Harry entered #4 Privet Drive with a huge smile on his face. The moment he stepped in he was confronted by Uncle Vernon.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN BOY?" he shouted in his face, moustache quivering dangerously as if it was in total agreement with its owner.

Without batting an eyelid, Harry took out his wand, and waved it in the air. With a complex movement and a softly uttered spell, "_CAPILLATUS_", Vernon's moustache gained length at an incredible speed and started wrapping itself around his head over and over again, firmly sealing his mouth.  It left a small gap just below his nose so that he could breathe properly.

For the next few minutes, utter silence reigned in the house only to be broken by a flapping of wings of an owl carrying a letter that was addressed to Harry Potter.

Harry slowly read through the later and as expected it was from the _Department of Improper Use of Magic_. He was going to a hearing.

'And so it begins', Harry Potter said before his face schooled into a blank slate.

 The ensuing silence was once broken by the sound of three simultaneous cracks that originated at the back yard of Number 4, Privet drive.

TBC.


	5. Mental, That One!

If Ronald Weasley had ever been asked what he thought of the notion of the Dark Lord reading the Lovegood owned newspaper _The Quibbler_, he would have probably given that person a funny look and turned to his best friend Harry Potter and earnestly told him "Mental, That One!"

Harry Potter would then have suppressed a grin so as to not annoy his other best friend, Hermione Granger.

She would have been watching them joke and after giving them both a fake exasperated look, would immediately reply "Honestly, you two! We have this assignment due tomorrow. Stop chit-chatting and do some work".

However, two days from the incident at Privet Drive, the day when Uncle Vernon found his moustache to have come alive and claimed his entire head as its own, Lord Voldemort, one of the most feared Dark Lord in recent English history, was sitting in an old mansion overlooking a graveyard doing something Ronald Weasley would have considered mental.

He was reading _The Quibbler_.

'Ah, Harry Potter. So you make your first move. A very interesting move, indeed. Most interesting! You are surely turning into a worthy opponent. '

'Looks like that blasted Dumbledore has trained his golden boy well.'

'But mark my words BOY; you WILL suffer the same fate as your foolish dead parents - for they also stood in the way of Lord Voldemort.'

Meanwhile, Albus Dumbledore, considered by many to be one of the greatest wizards of the modern times was sitting on a conjured chair with a slightly amused look on his face at Number 12, Grimmauld Place, The _Most Ancient and Noble House of Black_ and presently, the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix.

Sitting on the other side of the room with the same amused look was Remus Lupin, former prankster, Hogwarts prefect, werewolf, best friend of Sirius Black and the Potters', and secondary godfather to their son, Harry Potter.

They were both listening to a motley collection of people shouting and a few words could be easily heard every now and then over the cacophony.

"TOO YOUNG", said a voice that could easily have been identified as belonging to Molly Weasley. 

"BLOODY BRILLIANT HARRY" shouted another voice that belonged to her youngest son.

"MERLIN, WHAT A STUD!" said a voice that belonged to a short haired witch whose hair colors were cycling through all the rainbow colors at an incredible rate.

"TONKS!!!"  shouted ten different voices at the same time.

Meanwhile the object of their conversations was sitting at Number 4, Privet Drive, subconsciously charging the magical wards that protected the Dursley's residence from harm and consciously doing what he had wanted to do for the last two weeks.

Dudley's broken toys were now all repaired and engaged in an intense duel with each other.

They were silently watched by Harry Potter fro above as he idly waved his holly wand and orchestrated the fight.

As Dudley's favorite action figure of Superman flew up and down making circles and then suddenly charged at a metal dinosaur that had been desperately trying to get on miniature _Harley-Davidson_ in an attempt to flee the impending attack, Harry silently reflected on how the last two days had changed his life irrevocably and forced drastic changes at the British Ministry of Magic.

'Enjoy your happy days in hell, Fudge.'

'That was for you Padfoot, just for you. For all the misery that scoundrel made you go through. Now he will suffer from what he dreads the most, public ignominy'.

As loving memories of his deceased godfather flooded back into his tired mind, a silent tear dropped unnoticed on the ground.

Soon Harry Potter went to sleep with a heavy heart and an overworked mind that desperately tried to visualize about how different his life could have been if his parents and godfather had been with him and Voldemort had never happened.

TBC.

To all readers: Suggestions are most appreciated and I will try my best to incorporate them. I don't read Slash fics.

So if you are looking for something like that in this story, you might want to press the back button.

I haven't really decided what pairings to keep in this story. I would really like have Harry/Tonks or Harry/Luna since I find these pairings very interesting.

I find H/G and H/Hr a little too clichéd, even if they are more believable than other ships.

I must warn you all though, that I absolutely suck at writing mushy stuff and tend to shy away from it.

Probably within a few chapters, I should be introducing slight H/? hints that would keep those with an appetite for mush busy.


	6. Flashback

The door to the backyard flew open and three breathless Aurors rushed in.

"Harry Potter, under the powers invested in us by the Ministry of Magic, you are hereby placed under arrest for breaking the _Decree of Underage Use of Magic_.

 You will now surrender your wand and accompany us to the Ministry of Magic where you will be placed under confinement until your hearing tomorrow".

After reciting out the memorized speech the Auror looked keenly towards Harry as if expecting this to be a simple everyday happening. He could not have been more wrong.

"If you attack me or try to use any kind of force on me, I will have to take legal action against you for wrongful imprisonment and misuse of official powers", Harry calmly replied back.

The flabbergasted Aurors turned towards each other and after a silent signal surreptitiously took out their wand from the holsters. They were met with the sight of the Boy-Who-Lived standing in a perfect dueling stance, wand aimed at the leader and ready to fire off curses at the slightest movement.

Meanwhile the Dursleys had retreated to the back of the living room with the now temporarily sight deprived Vernon clutching his wife's hand as if they were his only lifeline.

"STATITIUS TOTALUS" -   The momentary standoff was suddenly broken with a loudly uttered jinx from the Auror at the rear end of their leader.

A calm Harry softly muttered something under his breath and simultaneously waved his holly wand in a slight 'O' shape and thrust it at the imaginary centre. A dazzling white light sprang forth from it and shot towards the three Aurors. Never having seen such a display of magic before they had no idea how to react and their weak impromptu shields shattered like millions of pieces of glass. They were absolutely stunned and froze for what seemed like an eternity. When they came to their senses they had been tied and bound by conjured ropes and neatly placed one beside the other on the sofas in the living room.

"All right, you wanted my attention. You've got it all now. Now let's get you somewhere you will be more appreciated."

"You! Fond of making dramatic entrances, aren't you. How does a flying carpet sound to you?"

"PORTUS". With a less than humored smile, Harry touched the doormat with his wand and made it glow blue after converting it to a portkey.'

 He then proceeded to unceremoniously dump the three Auror's sticking very close to each other onto the doormat.

"Okay, now you three valiant upholders of the law have got a long day ahead of you. My business with you is very short though. I want you all to behave yourselves like good children. Any rowdiness and Voldemort will be the last of your concerns. Am I clear?"

"Crystal", the Auror in charge replied with a bitter tone, though the anxious look on his face betrayed his nervousness.

"Off we go then. One. Two. Three". With a thud the Aurors landed right in the centre of the offices of _The Daily Prophet_. Harry quietly apparated behind them. By now a small crowd was gathering at the scene of disturbance.

"I want someone to go and fetch Rita Skeeter", Harry told the swelling number of people grouped around them in a commanding tone. A young witch nervously nodded and ran to try and find Rita Skeeter.

"Make way, make way - Coming through", the voice of the Ms. Rita carried across from the end of the mob. Her eyes lit up at the sight of Harry Potter surrounded by three immobile Aurors desperately looking towards the crowd, all pomposity and self respect forgotten.

"Ah, Harry. My dear boy! Why don't we go somewhere more private?" she questioned him, though she had no intention of doing so. Harry sensing her intentions and also thinking it would be more fruitful of washing the dirty laundry in public, politely nodded in the negative.

"Ms. Rita Skeeter. I know you are an honorable reporter and always try and stick as close as possible to the truth. That is why I am personally requesting you to tell the public how deplorable the condition of the Ministry of Magic had become.

Voldemort is out there, killing innocent men and women.

Orphaning children. Maiming innocents. Spreading terror through the Wizarding world.

 He hides behind his minions and like a plague destroys the very fabric of our life.

And here we have the Minister of Magic sending three class 'A' Aurors to fetch the only one who has ever successfully opposed him for a hearing.

 Last year he tried his best to ridicule and slander me and Professor Dumbledore.

Dolores Umbridge sent dementors after me and my muggle cousin. Just for defending myself, I was tried at a full hearing of the Wizengamot.

 Tell me - How many of you knew that?  Your very own newspaper was in league with him and helped Fudge a great deal with his scheming and plotting.

And what is the crime I am being accused of now. Underage magic!

I may not be a fully qualified adult wizard but according to British Laws, I am fully entitled to use magic whenever and wherever I want.

Fudge has gone on long enough as the Minister of Magic, a position he isn't even fit to handle.

He accused me of being mentally unstable. I ask you, who is the mentally unstable person here?

One of our laws that has remained unchanged since ancient times is that any wizard or witch who feels he or she has been unjustly wronged by another person has a right to challenge that wizard or witch to a public or private duel.

**For insulting my family name, I Harry James Potter, hereby challenge Cornelius Oswald Fudge to a magical duel in public tomorrow at ****10:00**** clock in Diagon Alley.**

 Let the citizens of the Wizarding world know that no one is above the law and how pitiable our Minister of Magic really is for he is going to be loose to a 6th year student of Hogwarts.

There will be no hearing tomorrow. Let it be known by all that the charges against me are groundless.

 I am going to submit the entire proof of this along with other interesting tidbits about Fudge to Ms. Skeeter who will be reporting this in tomorrow's edition of the _Daily Prophet. _

 Since you are all extremely fond of reporting on my antics, I am also going to give to your newspaper my complete story since starting first year at Hogwarts.

Now, as an act of good faith I am going to release these three Aurors.

Anyone who tries to interfere with my business will know the full extent of my anger.

Right now I am not really feeling very sociable, so if you will all excuse us, Ms. Skeeter and I have something to contribute to your esteemed newspaper. Thank you all for your time."

After two hours in the office of Rita Skeeter, a tired Harry quietly apparated to the Leaky Cauldron and after a brief conversation with Tom, the barkeeper, proceeded upstairs to rest.

Next Day -  Diagon Alley

A quiet and composed Harry waited patiently outside a shop called _Magic Menagerie _in the middle of Diagon Alley.

Almost everyone in Diagon Alley had a copy of the Daily Prophet in their hands were looking at him with awe clearly written across their face. Teenage witches were giving him adoring glances every now and then.

A huge crowd had collected around him, but everyone was at a safe distance as if expecting the Minster of Magic to try some dirty trick when he made his appearance there.

 After reading the day's edition of the newspaper, there was growing dissent among the Wizarding population against Cornelius Fudge.

The tales of Harry Potter and his two loyal, steadfast friends and their adventures they had been on, was now known by all the children who had in turn been told by their parents after their cries of outrage at Fudge turned to cries of wonder when reading about Harry's school years.

Loud cracks announced the arrival of Fudge and his entourage. His face was swollen with anger and disbelief.

 How and when had he been totally and utterly outwitted and outmaneuvered by a mere sixteen year old boy?

 He knew his position in the ministry would not last another day but this was his chance to get back at the impudent brat for the public disgrace he had been caused.

"AURORS – ARREST THIS BOY!" However not a single person stepped forward to do his bidding.

In return it was Harry who responded to him.

"What happened Fudge? Are you also afraid like Voldemort to come out and fight in the open? Or are you just plain scared of old plain me? Come let's settle this dispute like men.

Take out your wand Fudge. You have done enough harm trying to hush up things and spreading lies. Sometimes I think you are acting on the orders of good ole' Snakeface!

Come on Fudge. Duel me".

"WHY YOU!'"

"CAMINUS INCENDI".

As a bright orange flare rushed towards Harry Potter from the wand of Cornelius Fudge, Harry waved his wand and a bright blue shield of water that covered his entire frame appeared.

The flames instantly disappeared.

'My turn now…'

What happened next would be told over many a drink at the Leaky Cauldron with laughter echoing through the entire inn.

Without batting an eyelid, Harry weaved his way with the grace of a professional dancer not giving Fudge even a remote chance to retaliate.

"PULSARE"

"BATTUERO"

"CATENA RESTRICTO"

"FERA BESTIUS"

"FRIGUS"

"TERREUS"

A jet of yellow light emerged from Harry's wand and hit Fudge right in his stomach.

 As he fell down with a terror struck face, another beam of light which was making his way towards him sent him flying.

 Just before he could impact with the windows of Flourish and Blotts imaginary chains confined him.

A huge black grim like dog sprang forth from a pebble and with a vicious growl proceeded to bite his shoes.

 As the dog kept trying to dismember his nether regions, a pillar of ice squeezed Fudge in effectively preventing his escape.

The earth suddenly split open and Fudge rocked dangerously left and right before falling right in.

With just his head sticking out of the brick lined alley, Fudge remained encased in his tomb of ice and sputtered stupidly, before realizing that the face of Harry Potter was peering closely at him.

 "LEGLIMENS". It was a minute later Fudge realized that he was wailing loudly and somehow sharing his most embarrassing moments with his sixteen year old nemesis.

"Next time Fudge, choose your enemies carefully".

That was the last Cornelius Oswald Fudge ever heard from Harry Potter, _The Boy- Who-Lived, _Saviour of the Wizarding world before he resigned from his position and disappeared from public life.

"VOLDEMORT I KNOW YOU WILL HEAR ME. SO LISTEN TO ME CAREFULLY. I AM COMING FOR YOU. IT MAY BE TODAY, IT MAY BE TOMMORROW, IT MAY BE ONE YEAR LATER. I AM COMING FOR YOU".

That was the last the Wizarding public gathered at Diagon Alley heard from Harry Potter, _The Boy- Who-Lived, _Saviour of the Wizarding world before he retired to his abode at Number 4, Privet Drive for the remaining summer.

The moment Harry Potter disappeared from Diagon Alley, an old wrinkled face sporting a huge white beard broke into a proud smile and disappeared the same way as his protégé.

TBC.


	7. Chain of Events

**_I am a silent spectator to my own self,_**

**_I see things happening to me._**

**_I merely watch._**

**_It is all powerful chain of events_**

**_Taking toll of me._**

**_Spectators others too are_**

**_That is but unreal._**

**_I watch my bare self_**

**_My bare truth, only I_**

**_When I am absorbed_**

**_In the heightened glory_**

**_Time gets lost, uncontrolled_**

**_Paining sole_**

**_I try to grab_**

**_I reach out to hold time_**

**_In a vain attempt_**

**_The events unfold_**

**_Starting a saga of millions_**

**_I am only a repeat_**

**_A silent spectator._**

****

**_-Harry Potter, May 28th 1996._**

****

The chain of events that happened after Harry's departure from Diagon Alley had left the Wizarding world in a daze.

After Fudge booted himself from office and Madam Amelia Bones was elected the new Minster of Magic, Aurors were placed at strategic places of importance all over the magical parts of Britain.

Checks and balances were placed into affect at the Ministry to flush out spies and Voldemort sympathizers.

Suspected Death Eaters were taken into custody and after heavy doses of interrogation in which Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody had a major role, released when all manner of useful information had been be extracted from them.

The dementors had already deserted Azkaban, and guard trolls along with specially trained Aurors patrolled it now. Numerous security charms and wards were placed over the prison to make it impenetrable and prevent possible break-outs.

The Order of Phoenix was recruiting new members - wizards and witches who had proven themselves loyal to the light side or were considered extremely trustworthy by the present members.

Voldemort on the other hand, was maintaining a steadfast silence and it was anyone's guess what he was up to.

The Order suspected him to be recruiting his own Death Eaters from different parts of Europe and was keeping a strict watch on the Death Eaters released by the Ministry after their interrogations.

Our hero on the other hand was spending quiet days at his only living relative's house at Privet Drive in Surrey, contemplating life and his future.

'Where do I go from here Padfoot? I have bettered myself in mind and body this entire summer. I can handle any Death eater Voldemort throws at me and maybe even his most evil Lordship himself. Do you think it will be enough?'

He let out a soft sigh and got up from his rickety wooden chair from were he had been staring out of the window for the past hour.

After refilling Hedwig's water bowl with some fresh water he made it way to the bed and lied down after letting out another barely inaudible sigh.

Hands crossed behind his head and legs bent over in a perfect imitation of the alphabet X Harry thought fondly about Ron and Hermione. Their smiling faces succeeded in bringing out a gentle smile on his chiseled face.

For some unfathomable reason another picture immediately came to his mind.

Waist length dirty blond hair, wide doe like eyes and a wand stuck behind the ears. The image then focused on soft cherry colored lips and they opened up to reveal a set of pearly white teeth. "_Wit beyond measure is a man's greatest treasure_", said a soft voice.

'Now where I have heard that before? WAIT A SECOND HARRY! YOU WERE JUST NOW THINKING ABOUT LUNA LOVEGOOD!!'

 With a start of sudden realization, Harry immediately jolted from his bed.

"AAh", he shouted after hitting his head on the edge of the study table. 

He rubbed the backside of his head, his disobedient unruly hair standing up even more after rubbing it repeatedly with the palm of his right hand.

'First Snakeface, then an idiotic Minister of Magic, then the overly secretive Order of the mighty Goose and now LUNA LOVEGOOD. Why does this only have to happen to me???'

"Bloody hormones!"

'Do I like Luna?'

'Does she like me?'

As question after question raged in his mind, the _Boy-Who-Lived_ never realized when he had assumed his position back in the bed and fell asleep with lips curved into a contended smile.

To any casual observer, it would have seemed that it was just some teenaged boy thinking about his first love and wondering what the future would bring for them.

He could not have been more right as the last thought in the mind of the barely conscious Harry Potter, was that of a dirty blond haired and emerald eyed little girl pulling the hair of another black haired and wide eyed little boy.

TBC.

A/N: Thanks for your reviews people. It felt great to read them and I immediately set out to write to another chapter. And here it is!

Sorry all you Tonks lovers. I really wanted to make it H/T, but writing about Luna would provide me with more of a challenge.


	8. Acquired Wealth

As Harry woke up in the morning after his best sleep the whole summer, last night's thoughts came rushing back to his head.

He shook his head as if it would get rid of strange thoughts he had dreamt about, only to find Hedwig looking at him quizzically.

 She turned herself around imperiously, her entire demeanor suggesting to Harry that she thought he had finally lost it.

After she flew out of the window to hunt something for her early morning snack, Harry got up and after a quick shower decided he needed to do some quick shopping for school supplies and more importantly, check up some things at Gringotts.

He realized that the new school term would be starting in just a few days and morning was the best time to avoid the usual rush of eager students and their harassed parents.  

Just a few days back he had politely rejected Ron's offer to meet up at Diagon Alley. He knew Mrs. Weasley would want to confront him there and he was in absolutely no mood for providing explanations, however much he adored her.

Thinking that he should be getting a move on, Harry went downstairs to inform Aunt Petunia that he would be leaving for the better part of the day to get his school supplies.

"Aunt Petunia", he called out to her as she was making breakfast.

"I will be gone for most of the day to get some stuff for school".

Seeing Vernon's hand suddenly start to shake nervously a wicked smile made its way into his features and after some effort to fight back the smile he innocently continued, "Actually, I think I will leave just now".

And with that he apparated to Diagon Alley, leaving behind a broken teacup, a rapidly staining carpet and an uncontrollably shaky Vernon Dursley.

Harry apparated directly in front of the Gringotts front entrance.

He made his way to the head goblins desk and called for his attention.

The goblin looked up from some jewel he was carefully inspecting and on recognizing Harry Potter, immediately went on his best behavior.

"Mr. Potter, what a pleasant surprise. What can I do for you today?"

"Good morning. I am here to inquire about the state of my finances and to get a complete statement on my list of possessions", Harry replied in a business like tone.

"Of course Mr. Potter! If you could just wait for a minute."

He opened one of the many hidden drawers underneath his huge desk and took out some parchments.

"As you have amply demonstrated that you are of eligible age Mr. Potter the sum total contained in your vaults now amounts to four hundred and sixty five thousand galleons, ninety four sickles and two knuts".

Harry slowly let out the breath he had been holding and in a voice that could have been described as distinctly girlish asked the goblin – "could you repeat that figure for me again please?"

"Certainly Mr. Potter. The sum total contained in your vaults amounts to four hundred and sixty five thousand galleons, ninety four sickles and two knuts".

'Breathe Harry. Yes that's the way, in and out, in and out, in and out'.

'Holy silver haired mother of all beautiful beautiful BEAUTIFUL GODS!'

'I AM RICH. I AM RICH. Harry Potter of cupboard under the stairs, Number 4 Privet Drive – YOU ARE ONE BLEEDIN RICH KID'.

'Wow, what would Sirius have said to that?'

The moment Harry thought of his deceased godfather all exuberance at his newly discovered wealth went out of the window and he immediately sobered up.

"All right. Thank you very much for your time."

As Harry left Gringotts with a whirlpool of emotions raging through his heart, he spotted the shop for all kinds of options ingredients.

 Harry had made it though to the NEWT level potions class after receiving an Outstanding in his potions OWL examination.

He had decided to take Advanced DADA, Transfiguration, Charms and Potions. He only took COMC as his elective because he wanted as much time as possible in pushing his magical limits and learning anything of value from the library at Hogwarts.

 He had also planned to study Animagus Transformations in honor of his father and Sirius. He knew with all the extra work he was going to be doing; he would have very little time for other subjects that would be of little value to him in his fight against Voldemort.

After buying all required potion ingredients, Harry made his way to the Quality Quidditch Supplies to check on the latest broom.

'Bloody Umbitch', he swore mentally at Dolores Umbridge, the former Hogwarts High Inquisitor.

She had not only confiscated his Firebolt but also destroyed it.

 'Can't even do anything to her now. Let her come out of St. Mungo's. This time it's going to be me who will send her back there, not the Centaurs.'

He quickly found what he was looking for.

"Moonbeam X – Fastest broom in the world. Can outstrip any other model of broomstick out there. Guaranteed!"  announced the owner proudly.

After shelling out six hundred galleons for it, a very satisfied Harry shrunk the broom and put it in the back pocket of his jeans.

'Moonbeam. Hmm, wonder what Luna would think of that!"

Harry sighted a jewelry shop and walked in with thoughts of the dirty-blond haired witch haunting him.  His eyes fell upon a pair of dazzling white diamond studded ear-rings shaped like the moon and made a spur-of-the-moment decision to buy them as a present for Luna.

A quick trip to Ollivander's added wand polish and a brand new, charmed dragon-hide wand holster to his list of acquisitions.

'That's all for today I guess. Time to do my final packing for Hogwarts', Harry silently contemplated on the day.

Two days later, with a quick peck on the cheek and an absolutely astonished Aunt later Harry silently apparated to Platform nine and three quarters.

Most of the platform was empty except for a few students. Harry decided to settle in a compartment and make himself comfortable.

Half hour later, the door to the compartment slid open and Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood walked inside hand in hand.


	9. Reunions and Farewells

**_I opened the door_**

**_You did not even knock_**

**_But I heard it_**

**_Your heart beat_**

**_Your_****_ calling me loudly_**

**_Seeking my soul_**

**_My body and the rest_**

**_I let myself believe you_**

**_Your madness shocked me_**

**_The shock was my joy_**

**_I am closing the door_**

**_For you never knocked_**

****

- **_Harry Potter, The Ride To Hogwarts_**

****

A burning hot iron rod slowly twisting its way through the guts and making its way upwards, to where the heart resides and staying put till the frail organ finally stopped beating. That is how Harry felt when he saw the clasped hands of his clumsy friend who was finally coming into his own and the girl who had taken away his peace of mind for the last many days and made a place of her own in his burdened heart.

For a brief moment he stiffened like an ironing board till conscious thought finally kicked in and looking at Luna with downcast eyes he softly said, "Hello Luna."

"Neville."

"I hope your grandmother wasn't angry at you for breaking your father's wand?"

Neville who was blissfully ignorant of the gigantic blow his and Luna's entrance had caused on Harry, jovially replied – "Oh No Harry! Grandma was so proud of me when she heard of what exactly had happened. I never really thanked you for giving me the confidence to face my fears. So here it is – Thanks Harry. Thanks so much!"

Harry gave a small smile and replied "Glad to have helped."

He briefly looked up at Luna only to find her giving him an extremely scrutinizing look that turned into a questioning look and finally gave way to a curious mix of sadness and apology.

There was an uncomfortable silence in the compartment that was choking him until the doors slid open to reveal the smiling face of his best friend Ron Weasley closely followed by his other best friend Hermione Granger. Just the sight of the two was enough to change his whole demeanor, which went from miserable to extremely content in a matter of seconds.

"HARRY! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING???" shrieked Hermione with so much worry on her face that he was briefly taken aback.

"Listen guys. There are some things I need to talk to you about. Let's go outside for a minute."

Without waiting for their answer he gently pulled along his two friends from the compartment and shut the door close.

"Harry Wha-". Before Ron could complete the sentence, Harry placed a finger on his mouth indicating them to be quiet.

He took out his wand from the holster and cast a privacy bubble along with an eavesdropping deterrent charm and after pocketing it back in his wand holster turned a soft gaze towards Hermione.

"My beautiful Hermione," he said tenderly caressing her cheek. "Do you know how much I love you? If my parents were alive and I had a sister I would have wished her to be just like you."

"so perfect…" He said the last part so quietly that both Ron and Hermione barely heard it.

Hermione had silent tears flowing down her cheek and gave him a tight hug. "Why are you saying this Harry? What's wrong? Tell me. Did someone say anything to you? I WILL KILL THEM."

"No, No Hermione. Let me finish first. No one said anything to me."

"Ron", he said keeping a firm hand on his shoulder. If I would have wished Hermione as my sister, then you would most definitely have been my brother. I don't care if I am not related to both of you by blood. You are my family. My only family."

"Take care of Hermione for me Ron. And Hermione will you take care of Hedwig for me?"

Hermione nodded silently. Harry gently brushed away a tear from under her eye.

"I have to go somewhere. There are some things I must do. Don't try to find me. PLEASE. I have to do this."

"Promise me. Both of you. You will not try to find me. Promise me."

"And. And I will come back."

Ron nodded dumbly, not knowing how to react for this was one situation he was not prepared for when he boarded the train. All he could understand was that their was an inner fire in his best friends, no, not best friend, his brother's bright emerald eyes and that he had to go somewhere.

Harry pulled them both into a tight hug and suddenly let go. He turned toward the outer doors and after casting a cushioning charm on the ground next to the railway tracks, he jumped from the speeding train.

'IF A WEAPON I HAVE TO BE – THEN A WEAPON I WILL BECOME. After all, that's all there is to my wretched life…'


	10. To Discover Oneself

The month of October is usually associated with a cool breeze flowing across a serene landscape dotted with flaming trees that are ready to shed their leaves till the rejuvenating season of spring brings them back to life with soft childlike innocent leaves take their place to repeat the endless cycle of life and death.

Harry Potter was not feeling too much of the light wind though. He was in a terrain where snow clad mountains competed with lush coniferous forests to provide an overall awesome view. He was at the Himalayas.

Sheltered in a cave from the howling winds that raged from the north and then mellowed down enough by the time they reached the great Indian plains, he was kept company a man who very well could have passed off as the prominent English wizard Albus Dumbledore with his bright twinkling eyes and outsized white beard.

The only difference being that this man was in a partial state of undress with only a carroty loin cloth, which would seemingly have offended western sensibilities, to cover him and possessed a light brown tone of the skin. No, Harry Potter was not here to test his gender orientations. Rather he was in an extreme state of meditation softly chanting an ancient Hindu hymn that was to aid him in his purposes of concentration.

Suddenly after a day long span of absorption in his ritual which he had been going over for the past month and a half, he felt as if ants were slowly crawling along his back. An intense heat in his spine as if molten lava was softly making its way down took its place and a soft buzzing echo in his ear slowly rose in crescendo to reproduce a roaring sound that finished with a clap of thunder. This was immediately followed by a feeling of pure bliss that gave way to millions of bright flashy lights in his head that revealed to him the creative, intellectual and spiritual side of life.

With an extremely content smile on his face, Harry slowly lowered his chin to reveal a set of beautiful glowing green eyes and was met with the sight of the Indian version of Dumbledore proudly beaming at him.

"Did you see, my child?" he asked of Harry. Harry slowly nodded.

"You are now one with yourself now child. You must learn to harness the energy you have been gifted with. Your magic is only worth so much. But the energy within us all is so immense, so powerful yet so beautiful. Each of us is enough to create a star by ourselves just by harnessing all which we have. Go now. Go in peace. May the blessings of the gods be with you."

Harry slowly got up and wrapped his arms around the wizened Indian hermit to give him a gentle hug.

"And child, you don't need that stick you carry around with you anymore. Nor those silly words you keep uttering with that stick. Will it. Ask of your being for it to happen and it will happen……"

With a trusting nod, Harry took out his wand from his holster and giving it one last loving look. He then gripped the sides of the wand and with a slight effort bent it at the middle. What happened next would remain firmly etched in his mind as an everlasting memory.

The wand broke with a resounding _CRACK_ and exposed a stunning red and gold feather from Dumbledore's pet phoenix. The feather immediately burst into flames and all of a sudden, exploded into millions of red and gold sparkling lights. The glittering lights soon turned into a phantom figure that took the shape of a majestic phoenix. It slowly drifted upwards and just when it was about to touch the ceiling of the cave, it gave a mighty _screech _and without another warning rushed towards Harry.

The moment it entered Harry, he felt as if all his pain, all his sorrows, all his misery was had been washed away. He felt rejuvenated as if he had suddenly found an oasis of water in a hot sterile desert.

"My child! Oh my! Do you realize what has just happened?" the hermit suddenly exclaimed.

Without waiting for Harry to answer, the positively gleeful man clapped his hands and continued talking – "Look what it did! This celestial creature cleansed all the darkness that was trying to take hold of you. When you first came to me, lost and miserable I questioned myself whether I should teach you the ancient ways. I sensed a great amount of inherent righteousness in you, but that was slowly being eaten away by your rage and anger. Sooner or later, these would have led you to the path of self-destruction. It seems I made the right decision, for only someone absolutely pure of heart could have received such a wonderful gift from this creature. Now I have nothing to worry about. You must go and solve that which earlier troubled you so greatly."

With a silent nod and a barely audible pop, Harry left.

"Rise oh tortured soul,

The brunt's you have borne enough

It's time taming

Wisdom and faith in you

Floating on towers of imagination

Success, failure, adventure

Risen you Have now

Vision of your glory, is there

It is now an eternal story."

With a soft sigh, the old man finished his song and slowly made his way out of the cave to collect fruits for the day's meal.

--------------------------

Lavender Brown always considered herself to be a very sociable and gregarious girl, whose zest for life could only be matched by her best friend, Parvati Patil. No wonder that she was now fervently kissing her fifth selection of a boyfriend in the past two weeks at the window facing the north side at the infamous Astronomy tower.

She suddenly felt warmth creeping up her face till she chanced a look outside to see a majestic figure making its way through towards the outer doors of the great hall. With an impatient huff she broke away contact with her male companion and felt a growing good pleasantness as the figure approached closer. This person was walking with a naturalness and grace that only the noblest of blood and the highest order of royalty could even think to imitate.

There was an extremely powerful aura surrounding him and she suddenly felt loved and wanted and that everything in the world was all right. Her natural instincts kicked in and she realized she must find out who this person was. With an unnatural burst of speed she raced down towards the great hall, just in time to see the doors of her school - Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, gently opening.

TBC

A/N: Dear Reader, how do like the story so far. I understand that my story started really fast paced and then somewhere after the upheaval the Fudge, turned dramatically slow. I am going to slowly pick up the pace once more. I had reached a slight stumbling block (what u guys like calling a writer's block), but hopefully that phase is over. No wonder my most recent update came almost a month after I wrote last.

Hmm. Now a lot of you guys (and gals, of course!) are too smart for your own good. It becomes easy to predict the story if the author doesn't add twists and turns. Jeffrey Archer in fact wrote a book based on this - If I remember correctly it was called - Twelve Red Herrings.

Neways, I diverge. What I have tried to do is bring in a little twist in the plot. I am aware that a lot of fics. deal with 'Harry goes training and comes back a superman'. Yes, I agree to having done something very similar here, but I tried giving it a whiff of freshness. No elves, no 4 founders, no Merlin, No Dumbledore and definitely no Bellatrix (which if I might add seems to be an emerging trend!)

I most whole heartedly welcome your comments and suggestions. Even though I may not personally mention your nick, trust me, I take every single suggestions and for that matter your appreciative comments very, very seriously.

The reason I continued to write – MY REVIEWERS!

Me222, possom2009, Rachel A. prongs, YamiPaldinOfChaos, wandmaker,

bloodredsword, TheDreamer87, David Brown, HermioneChick 08, Potter reader,

sambow24, zeonreborn, miss luna Lovegood, javier55, rashHaka,

lmill123, hunta uten **FaduDawg** Hope47

Personal Profile: M/23 student Purdue. Listen to Coldplay and Strings all day long.

Favorite Quote: Be like a duck – calm and unruffled at the surface, paddle like the devil underneath!


	11. The Return of The King

'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog'. Had Hermione Granger ever been questioned as to what was so special about the sentence in pertinence to English Grammar, she would have thought with a slight frown for a minute and then brightly answered – "Why of course! It contains all the letters of the English alphabet".

If that sentence managed to display all the letters of the English grammar, then the moment the great doors opened and the person who had caused Lavender Brown to rush all the way down from the Astronomy Tower gracefully stepped in, all shades of admiring emotions that were humanly possible for a normal hot blooded sixteen year old girl managed to openly display themselves across her face.

Any professor of human psychology would have killed to be there at that moment in time as parallel expressions adorned themselves on every teenage witch present in the great hall.

Draco Malfoy, the self proclaimed Slytherin prince of Hogwarts started out with outright disbelief and the incredulity somehow managed to transform itself into an unmatched fury.

Dumbledore unsuccessfully tried maintaining a neutral expression as his eyes kept darting about the hall in utter confusion when he felt the familiar calming presence of his loyal and steadfast friend Fawkes nearby, the same time his most favorite student in all of his many decades of teaching experience entered. 'Well, almost most favorite…', he thought mischievously as he secretively braved a sideward glance at Professor McGonagall.

Hermione and Ron were showing utter relief on there faces and when they turned to each other to express their utter delight at Harry's return, somehow managed to get completely lost in each other's eyes. Completely oblivious to what was going on around them they were now singularly involved in repeating what Ms. Brown of Gryffindor was so busy in a few minutes back.

With a happy grin Harry saw them and slowly breathing in the wonderful atmosphere, let out a slow breath. Piercing green emerald eyes slowly turned towards the Ravenclaw table and tried scanning the table for straggly waist length dirty blond hair.

"Where is Luna?" he politely asked a fourth year Ravenclaw girl sitting closest to where he was standing. The girl's eyes widened like those of a deer caught in the headlights when she realized HE had chosen to speak to her.

As a soft blush made its way through her face, she managed to stutter out some incomprehensible words. "I am sorry. Could you repeat that again for me please?" he asked of her.

Soft giggling noises brought the girl back to the great hall and her immediate surroundings and she finally managed to blurt out - "Hunting for her belongings. Someone managed to hide them again tonight!"

Moments after the Ravenclaw divulged Luna Lovegood's whereabouts, the walls started rumbling and all of the glass dishes at the Ravenclaw table shattered sending glass everywhere. The merry atmosphere in the great hall instantaneously turned dark as shrieks of the students went up. Any student who had ever played around with Luna's belongings or mentally tortured her was shivering uncontrollably. A few first year's who had recently been introduced into the favorite pastime of Luna baiting by their seniors were sobbing quietly.

McGonagall got up fuming and with a wary glance at Dumbledore, who silently nodded his assent, turned towards Harry Potter. "MR. POTTER! STOP THIS IMMEDIATELY!"

In a soft tone of voice that even Severus Snape, potions master extraordinaire and resident expert of the noble art of intimidation, would have been hard-pressed to copy, Harry gave a unsettling look to those affected by his recent magical outburst - "Touch so much as a hair on Luna's head and that will be the last thing you do in this lifetime."

The cold fury etched in every line of Harry Potter's youthful face was the last thing a worried Cho Chang saw before he slowly shimmered out of existence in front of the entire great hall.

Harry willed himself to be at Luna's side as he noiselessly left the great hall. He reappeared in a deserted corridor with just a portrait of what appeared to be a goblin haggling over some gold with a clever looking wizard. Looking around he thought he had made a mistake when he saw no sign of Luna.

He was about to leave when his right leg touched something soft on the ground. With a start he realized that it was Luna, the girl who had made a very special place in his heart.

Harry was absolutely furious with the people who had caused her so much suffering and pain and his heart almost broke in two when he realized that she was trembling slightly in her sleep with dry tear marks running down her eyes. He gently picked her up in his arms as if she was a fragile piece of glass and softly kissed her forehead.

'NEVER AGAIN! NEVER EVER BLOODY AGAIN! I SWEAR NO WILL DARE TO LAY A FINGER ON YOU AGAIN LUNA'

The next second Harry appeared with Luna resting gently in his arms at the old dilapidated structure that was the Shrieking Shack. With a mental thought the entire dust vanished and the whole place was sparkling clean.

Blue and gold competed with each other for the upholstery and a merry fire cackled in the now repaired fireplace. A bed fit for a queen appeared along with a comfortable looking couch by its side. With a final kiss on her forehead, Harry softly placed Luna on the bed and covered her with sheets of the finest silk. With a sigh he settled down on the couch, her hand entwined in his.

TBC.

A/N: Did anyone notice harry has absorbed some of the powers of the legendary phoenix. Phoenix inspire the brave and true of heart and their trilling is enough to literally burst the ear drums off for those whose intentions are evil!

The reason why I made Harry manage to learn the "ancient ways" in a month and half? Well, he is one determined chap. He really wants to learn. He is an excellent legllimens and occlumens now (so his mind is well ordered). Plus, the fact that such techniques do exist or atleast they used to. In fact during my research on the net, I found out that Lord Buddha who was actualy a hindu prince, gained enlightenment thru meditation and extreme concentration about what the friggin' hell is life about. I am not comparing Harry with Buddha here. Just using some believable stuff, instead of sending him to the past to learn from Godric and Merlin. lol.

Please review. Let me know how the story is shaping out. Thanks for reading!


	12. AN: Interlude

Hello once again fellow HP aficionados!

There are a lot of things I wanted to clear up with you guys since I feel I have been blatently having fun with you people since the last 2-3 chapters.

First of all I have wanted to do this for a really long time: muahahahahahha.

Now since thats over with lets go over a few 'red herrings' I placed here and there for you to figure out (hey i don't pretend to be as great as JKR, but one can surely try - can't they?).

Luna was never Neville's girl!

A lot of you fell for it hook, line and sinker....

Check out the herrings first:

"Half hour later, the door to the compartment slid open and Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood walked inside hand in hand."

-(chpt 8)

"blah... blah... blah... I am closing the door For you never knocked"

- Harry Potter, The Ride To Hogwarts (chpt 9)

"He briefly looked up at Luna only to find her giving him an extremely scrutinizing look that turned into a questioning look and finally gave way to a curious mix of sadness and apology. "

- (chpt 9)

"It seems I made the right decision, for only someone absolutely pure of heart could have received such a wonderful gift from this creature. Now I have nothing to worry about. You must go and solve that which earlier troubled you so greatly."

- (chpt 10)

I never put enough, no scratch that, I never put complete conclusive evidence that the two (N & L) were ever going out.

Remember at the end of GOF, when Mione kissed HP on the cheek It was enough to start of hailstorm of H/Hr ships. Well, I guess it's all open to interpretation.

In AAI, i.e. my fic, I made Harry fall victim to his ownself.

Luna giving him that scrunitizing look implied that she figured out HP cares a lot for her, but was not ready to go into a relationship so soon. She may have her own reasons for that.

Of course, I expect a lot of you to flame me that she could have responded with doe like eyes and gone all hubby-dubby on him. But hey, where's the fun in that? Simply put, he was expecting everything would go his own way, because of his recent spate of success and I wanted to bring down his self-esteem just one teenie-weenie bit.

Neville is one awesome dude, and he has yet to do one thing that would point to him being a SOB. He was just there to provide a distraction. Please don't hate me for that!

He, and for that matter the rest of the gang don't know about the shit Luna has to take from her house mates when it cames to things other than just simple name calling (Loony etc.).

Remember in OOTP, despite spending the entire year together, only Harry found out and that too at the end how she was being mistreated?

So that should hopefully cover the bases when it comes to why the gang from OOTP didnt come to her rescue - they don't know! They never bothered to find out. And she hides the pain beneath her loony exterior too well. Ok?

As for the hand in hand thing - it was a simple gesture of frienship.

Call it what you will. Neville may have been helping her carry her luggage. Or defended her against people teasing her. etc. etc. Use you imagination!!!

Harry does not have the powers of god with him. Pl-lll-ee-ase try to understand that. He is very powerful yes, but nope he cant wish someone into existence or for that matter out of. The fic would be over in a chapter then.

BTW, did you guys figure out how he's gonna get rid of Riddle (in this fic)? I left some clues for you in chpt 11....

Thanks for keeping on my toes UTEN!!! 

Gimme ideas, suggestions, comments. Nething. I love reading your thoughts on AAI. Thanks! Next chapter coming soon...


	13. Paradise Lost

**_Two days after Luna woke up to be greeted with the sight of Harry Potter smiling at her endearingly…_**

Harry entered the Dungeons and walked up to the Potions classroom for the sixth year NEWT students conducted by Severus Snape. Murder was written in his eyes as he stood outside the closed doors.

He lifted his hands to his chest and violently pulled them apart. The same time he did so, the doors blasted apart from the hinges and swept all the way behind him. His cloak angrily billowing in the non existent wind, he indifferently stepped into the classroom and fiercely eyed the students, all of whom were now turned towards him and looking at him with a mixture of fright and curiosity clearly written across their faces.

One student in particular was desperately trying to cover his frightened features with a smug expression on his face.

"POTTER, HOW DARE YOU COM-". Before Snape could even complete the sentence, he was brutally sent flying across the dimly lit classroom into the moss covered stone walls, with an impatient wave of Harry's hand. A sickening _crunch _announced to theclass that the Potions master would not be able to attend his classes for the next one or two weeks, depending on the skills of the healers at St. Mungos.

Harry had not broken his eye-contact with Draco Malfoy throughout the entire ordeal and after giving him an intense look finally opened his mouth to speak.

"Come Draco. We have some things to talk about. Come with me."

Malfoy realizing that the next few minutes were probably going to be his last, after seeing the battered body of his Head of House, was stupidly nodding no. He got up from his wooden stool and without more ado ran and crouched underneath the bench.

The bench he was hiding under lifted up in the air and flew towards Snape's table where it softly landed, harmlessly spilling a few half-made potions from their owner's cauldrons.

"I SAID COME HERE YOU PIECE OF SHIT". With a snarl Harry lifted his right hand and Malfoy came flying through toward him. With an iron grip Harry caught hold of his neck and slowly pressed it tighter and tighter, choking him with the intent to kill.

Malfoy's eyes were bulging out from their sockets and his pale face rapid turning blue. All the students were transfixed with the sight before them and when Hermione thought that enough was enough, she proceeded to take out her wand.

To her horror she realized that she was totally immobilized as were the rest of the students. With a final sputter, Draco Malfoy finally breathed his last.

Like a rag doll, Harry tossed the corpse of Draco Malfoy aside and left the classroom as quickly as he had come.

Harry Potter, the golden boy of Gryffindor, had consciously committed his first murder…

**_Meanwhile in Dumbledore's office_**

Albus Dumbledore, the most revered wizard of his age lied back on a chair with a completely defeated look on his face. Minerva McGonagall was furiously debating whether she should mouth her growing concerns or not after seeing her mentor in such crushed position.

Finally, her Gryffindor traits won, and she went on to speak – "Albus, we must do something about the boy. I fear he will completely loose control over himself if you don't talk to him NOW. Albus! Please do something. Anything".

**_Elsewhere at Voldemort's secret hideout_**

An evil cackle echoed off the walls of a shadowy mansion. The entire atmosphere was thick with sinister malevolence and the dampness in the air because of the light rain outside the confines of the man-made structure only served to reinforce it.

A skeleton thin man with slits for his nostrils and a high forehead stood at the forefront of a dozen people in black robes. "Good job Malfoy! For once your incompetence at getting things done right seems to have taken a back-foot."

As if imitating a cheap 'B' grade movie villain, Lord Voldemort a.k.a. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named a.k.a. You-Know-Who, spun his hands from behind his pitch black robes,

and pretended to squeeze an imaginary object with his spidery fingers. "If you can't stab them from the front, then stab them from the back. Just make sure it reaches their heart."

"Excellent!"

'Harry Potter, I have broken your spirit. The game has begun. It's your move now', he silently contemplated on the brilliant happenings of the day.

While still thinking about how Lord Voldemort was the most brilliant and powerful Dark Lord in centuries, You-Know-Who got his wish granted unknown to him as a seething figure of Harry Potter shimmered and took physical form in the dark shadows near some chipped Romanesque pillars.

Even with Voldemort's presence, the temperature suddenly seemed to drop a few degrees. His Death Eater's were nervously looking around as if they sensed something was not right in their master's public chamber.

It took the fanatical hissing of Nagini to alert him to the presence of his arch nemesis. _Hesss__ here master. Hesss here master. Canss I sink my fangsss in hisss legssss _

With a sharp nod he jerked his neck towards the dark shadows. "Harry - my Boy! You honor me with your presence. Let's have a spot of tea dear boy. Nothing like a round of torture and pain to wash it all down with."

"Come out, Come out. Little Johnny wants to play the Big Bad Boy today. Let's all humor him, my loyal Deat-".

As Harry Potter stepped out of the shadows, an involuntary shiver ran down almost every Death Eater present. Lord Voldemort stopped mid-sentence and did something he had never done after being trashed by the warden in the old orphanage, at the tender age of four.

He gulped.

TBC.

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	14. Paradise Regained

**_On the Flames we glare_**

**_Passing faces_**

**_So cold and speechless_**

**_They look_**

**_It is breaking away_**

**_A passionate past_**

**_The silence of burial_**

**_Fragrance spreads_**

**_Pushing a stone wall_**

**_With bare bosoms_**

**_Bleeding_**

**_Falls the wall_**

**_Glares strengthen wounds_**

**_Healing becomes an endless process_**

**_Calling futuristic path_**

**_We tread so softly_**

****

**_-Harry Potter, The Murder of Luna Lovegood_**

**__**

**__**

****

Harry watched Lord Voldemort with detached eyes. For a moment everything seemed to have a come to a complete standstill as if time itself was frozen. And in that moment Harry remembered.

_Flashes of the last two days._

_Days that would not return, ever_.

_A dream of a happy life left unfulfilled. _

_Luna waking up with Harry's hand entwined in hers._

_Luna breaking down and crying in his comforting embrace._

_Luna holding him close as if her very life depended on her grip. _

_Llifting__ her chin to meet his eyes._

_The Kiss.___

_His first real kiss._

_Luna blushing slightly._

_The day spent comfortably snuggling into each others arms next to the fireplace._

_Escorting her back to Hogwarts._

_Whispers flying about their closeness as they entered the great hall together._

_The joyous look sent to him by his friends._

_The amused look sent towards him by the headmaster. _

_The apologetic look sent by Cho Chang. _

_The deriding sneer sent towards by the Potion Master. _

_The malevolent glare sent towards him by the ferret. _

_Taking Luna to the kitchens.___

_Laughing together at Dobby's antics.___

_Waking up the next morning in the room of requirement with her warm presence close to him._

_Dropping her off to her first class._

_Leaving for the Dursleys to strengthen the wards.___

_Coming back to find an unsettling hush over the entire school.___

_Leglimencing the students.___

_Running towards Madam Pomfrey's office.___

_Luna covered with white sheets._

_Lifting the sheets._

_Luna's lifeless body carved with tattoos. Tattoos of his scar._

_The cry of anguish.__ The cry that shattered everything innocent left in him._

_The tears.__ The tears that flowed from his eyes. The tears that swore revenge. _

_Revenge for those who had died a helpless death.___

_Revenge for everything dear that was snatched unfairly from him.___

_Discovering magical signature residues of both the Malfoys' on her.___

_His first murder, Draco Malfoy.___

_Lord Voldemort before him.___

And the way a dam bursts everyone suddenly leapt into action. Though to their discredit, every Death Eater found themself unable to move - just like the students had in the dungeons at Hogwarts a few minutes back.

Except for Lord Voldemort. He eyed Harry nervously and with a huge effort forced it down. His Slytherin instincts screamed at him to flee and come back for a fight later.

Looking over at the whelp, he couldn't help but admire how far the brat had come from the strangely calm baby he had attempted to murder sixteen years ago. Before him stood a tall, well built man. His frame was that of a seasoned athlete yet the impression he gave was that of an extremely well bred royal. His eyes... They were glowing dangerously. Like the waters of a deep ocean. Rough and perilous on the surface, with the promise of hidden horrors underneath.

"AVADA KED – ". Harry never gave him a chance to finish the fatal spell as he faded to a soft red mist with a swirling gold and black centre, and calmly stepped into Lord Voldemort's skeletal frame.

The Dark Lord's wand dropped to the floor with a clank and he screamed in agony with his hands on his forehead. "NO MORE. PLEASE NO", he cried desperately.

Meanwhile Harry was rapidly thinking of every loving emotion he had come across. His mother softly cooing to him. Ron and Hermione helping him shoulder his burdens. Sirius offering a place to live with him after he was rescued. Mrs. Weasley hugging him tightly at the end of the third task. Luna's soft loving embrace.

With a final yell, Lord Voldemort stopped clawing his bloodied face and fell lifeless to the ground. Harry tried getting out back to his own body but he found that he was trapped.

A bright light was shining at the end of long dark passageway. An invisible force gently pushed him towards the bright glow. Time had no meaning as Harry finally reached the brightly glowing source of light. A silent tear made its way down to the ground as Harry felt the sheer intensity of the love that the huge orb of light was projecting.

He felt invisible hands gently ruffling his hair. Not a moment too soon a dainty invisible hand lightly caressed his cheeks and softly touched his lips.

"Go Harry. They are giving everything another chance. Make things right. I will meet you soon. I love you".

Harry was violently pushed back and with a groan he opened his eyes.

"Ah! Harry my child. You are finally awake. The stone is safe."

****

****

**Read & Review. Thanks!**


	15. Bugging Rita Skeeter

When Harry looked up into the eyes of Dumbledore to confirm whether he had heard him correctly, he was suddenly assaulted with an onslaught of foreign memories, though it has a distinctly familiar tinge to it.

With a start, the eleven year old boy realized that these memories were his own and not someone else's. Year's worth of experiences, good as well as bad, trickled and settled in his conscious mind. It seemed like an eternity to Harry but to any casual observer it would have appeared as if Harry had simply spaced out for a few seconds.

Albus Dumbledore however, wasn't just any casual observer. He was watching the boy with something akin to pride when he felt a strange change come over his eleven year old ward in a matter of mere seconds.

Albus Dumbledore who prided himself in being able to scrutinize and decipher even the slightest bit of human expressions found himself stumped when a completely unreadable expression came over the child.

His shock was furthered when the tiny boy suddenly got up from his bed and hugged him tightly around his waist and softly said, "Thank for taking care and watching over me Professor Dumbledore. I must be going now. Have to meet my friends."

No questions were asked as to what happened to the stone.

No questions were asked as to how Harry was able to defeat Voldemort's shadow.

No questions were asked as to why Voldemort tried to kill him that dreadful Halloween night.

Albus Dumbledore was left completely surprised.

While Dumbledore was staring off into space with a blank expression into space trying to sort out and analyze the very recent events, Harry softly made his way out of Madam Pomfrey's domain.

He realized he needed more time to think about the future that had been revealed to him and he didn't want to take any drastic steps to alter it without understanding the consequences of his actions. So the entire time, till he reached Privet Drive, he acted in a similar fashion to how his past self had which included winning the house cup, thanking Hagrid for the photo album and almost every other minute detail that came to mind.

****

**Back at the Dursley's **

Harry realized that he could not perform any magic in the summers till he was at least fourteen years of age, which was the minimum age of emancipation for an orphaned minor in the muggle world. So unwittingly, he still had to perform Aunt Petunia's chores and listen to the Dursleys verbally pick on him.

One good outcome of having the memories of his other self was having his advanced knowledge. In a matter of minutes, Harry re-taught himself Occlumency and Leglimency. He had all the advanced knowledge of the highly powerful spells and other subject matter that he had learned over the years.

However, somehow he had lost the lingering shadow of Fawkes, the headmaster's magnificent phoenix and also the complete transformation he had gone though at the Himalayas under the guidance of the wizened sage. He knew how to go about it but he understood it would take him a great amount of patience and solitude to achieve it again - something for which he had no time.

He had thought long and hard about his future course of actions and he understood that there was no possible in hell that he would go through all that mental anguish throughout his Hogwarts years.

He would not let the future turn out the way it did if he had any say in it, and he had a very big say in it he thought with great mental relish.

Taking out a quill and some parchment, Harry made a list of things that he knew he would have to sort out in the not too distant future.

_1.__Sirius & Azkaban_

2._Wormtail, the traitorous rat…_

3._Dobby/freedom from Malfoy_

_4._ _The Chamber of Secrets & the Basilisk_

5._Tom Riddle/Diary & Ginny Weasley_

6._Lucius Malfoy & the Diary_

7._Reveal Parsletongue abilities?_

'Phew! That's quite a list I've got there. How in heavens name am I going to do this?'

Like a bulb being switched on he was suddenly struck with an idea. 'The summer after the fifth year, when I was a complete emotional heap and this summer really have distinct parallels. Let's see. Aha! GOT IT!'

With a calm expression on his face, Harry neatly penned a letter –

_Dear Ms. Rita Skeeter,_

_There are some things I would really like to discuss with you. I am sure on fully hearing me out; you will not be disappointed with what I have to offer to you. _

_If you are in acceptance of my offer, I will expect a "bug" in my hands tomorrow at __3:00 pm__ near the swings at the public park near __Privet Drive,__Surrey._

_yours__ humbly,_

_Harry Potter._

'_BUG_! -that'll remind her not to - not come…,' he thought with a proud smile adorning his boyish looks his.

A minute later a disappearing white speck could be seen in the sky carrying a very important letter.

TBC.

**Read & Review!**

A/N- Next chapter is gonna be most interesting. Promise!


	16. The Pen is Mightier than the Sword

It was to a brand new day that Harry woke up feeling full of excitement and an overwhelming sense of anticipation about the shape of things to come. He was justifiably feeling a little nervous; though with a few claming breaths he managed to reign in his perturbing emotions lest he loose control of himself, which could eventually lead to an unmitigated disaster when the time came for Rita Skeeter to print her piece in the Daily Prophet.

After all, the way he presented himself and his case to her would determine the future flow of events. And Harry had no intentions of screwing things up before hand.

The previous day he had made a list of things to think about and act on. He had arrived at the conclusion that exposing Wormtail for who he was would eventually lead to his capture and his godfather's freedom.

But he could not afford to do that, not yet. Undoubtedly Sirius would still remain a captive and later on a fugitive, but at least he would be assured that if things happened the way they already had, Wormtail would try and bring Voldemort back to life during the third task at the Tri-wizard tournament and he would have a chance to save Cedric Diggory's life, now that he knew what to expect.

Otherwise, Voldemort could eventually be brought back to his full powers at any other time and he would have to live his entire remaining years on the edge thinking about when Voldemort would be brought back and who else might die because of so many unknown variables.

All he had to make sure was that Barty Crouch Jr. was exposed for who he was without Fudge getting his hands on him and therefore, shutting him up permanently with a Dementor's kiss. He also had to include Dumbledore in his future plans and let him know about the tri-wizard cup being a portkey before hand.

That way they could take care of the powerless Voldemort and finish off the looming threat of his return once and for all. But that was a story for another day.

Right now he had to think of a way to save Ginny and give Lucius Malfoy what he oh-so-thoroughly deserved – a long term in Azkaban in his own personal cell, without Dobby to as a punching bag.

And that brought him back to Skeeter. Everything thing now depended on how he handled her.

With his thoughts well chartered out in his mind, Harry confidently closed the door to No. 4 Privet Drive and set off to meet Rita Skeeter at the local park.

**_At The Park : _****_2:55 pm_****__**

**__**

**__**

Harry slowly made his way to the birch tree near the broken swings and sat down with a huff. No sooner had he made himself comfortable, he heard a twig snap behind him and without a moments hesitation he had his wand drawn and pointed between the shocked eyes of none other than Rita Skeeter.

"Why, hello Miss Skeeter! I see that you are five minutes early for our appointment. How do you do?" Harry asked her with false cheer - something which both of them saw through.

"I am terribly good, this fine evening Mr. Potter," she replied back in the same tone, though she had a sickly sweet smile plastered on her face.

"Well then I don't plan to _BUG_ you too much today and spoil this wonderful day for you, but could you tell me what is the punishment for being an unregistered animagus these days? A short term in Azkaban I presume? Or is it just a heavy fine that the Ministry imposes on offending individuals if they are caught?" he asked her with heavy emphasis on the word 'bug'.

"How diiid did youu you knoww," she stuttered.

"Well Ms. Skeeter, I am sorry my secrets are my own – But I would like to offer you a deal – a _VERY_ fair deal. I promise that you have nothing to loose and everything to gain. You will undoubtedly make the biggest story of the decade, i.e. after the defeat of Voldemort by me, The-Boy-Who-Lived, and it will be completely to your credit. A salute to the brilliant investigative journalists of our time and their undying devotion to give the truth to the citizens of this great nation. _AND_, I will completely forget that some of these reporters become unregistered animagi like _BUGS_ to uncover the truth. So, what say you?"

To say that Harry had managed to whet Rita Skeeter's appetite and arouse her curiosity would have been an understatement, for she was just one step away from actually drooling on Harry's feet. With a wary glance at his legs he quietly managed to take a few steps back giving her time to think about his proposal and possibly save himself the burden of cleaning up his shoe laces later on.

"All right Harry, Can I call you Harry? What have you got for me?" she carried on without acknowledging his nod about her calling him Harry.

"Well, then listen carefully Rita. Can I call you Rita?"

At her eager nod he continued, "Lucius Malfoy is in possession of a Class-I Dark Artifact which he will intentionally place into the possession of one Ms. Ginny Weasely, only daughter of Mr. Arthur Weasely of the office of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts. This will happen when Gilderoy Lockhart has his signing day gala at Flourish and Blotts at the end of this summer, before the new Hogwarts term starts."

"Now you will ask me what is so special about this particular dark artifact. You see, this artifact comes across nothing but just a simple diary to the innocent eye, with the original owner's name written on it in silver – Tom Marvolo Riddle."

"This diary contains all the memories of the owner – in a nutshell the entire essence of his being as a sixteen year old. The essence of this person can interact with anyone who writes in this diary and slowly takes over the writer's will as time passes by stealing his or her life energy. Of course, if have a strong will, nothing will happen to you. But Rita, imagine what will happen if you place this diary in the hands of an innocent, gullible eleven year old girls who will be attending Hogwarts for the first time."

"THAT BASTARD!" she exclaimed loudly, scaring some of the nearby birds away.

"Calm down Rita! We aren't even hot yet."

"Do you know why this story, i.e. if you publish it - by catching Lucius Malfoy red-handed, will earn you so much acclaim? No? Let me tell you then. Do you know who Tom Marvolo Riddle was?"

"Here hold your wand," he asked her soothingly.

"Oh! For Merlin's sake - I can't do underage magic away from school!" he replied seeing her questioning look.

"All right then, I am now going to show you something."

With a gentle grip on her wand arm, he slowly wrote _TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE_ in burning letters in the air. With a smooth flick of her hand, he slowly rearranged the words to form I AM LORD VOLDEMORT in place of the old letters.

With a horror struck look on her face, Rita Skeeter turned towards Harry and then promptly fainted.

**A/N**: I know, I know 2 months to update. Don't blame me - blame my laptop. It's a HP Pavilion ze4400 and I swear to god – it sucks. Only 1 ½ years old and my 40 Gb hard drive decided it had served me long enuf and that it was holiday time. Stupid computer. I lost all my songs (5 gigs!), all my code, everything. Utter damnation.

But anyways I uploaded this from a friends computer and here it is.

This chapter should hopefully explain what happens to:-

1: Wormtail(nothing for the entire coming year – though Harry is going to step on his tail every opportunity he gets!)

2: Sirius(nothing for the entire coming– turn into a dog and save yourself from misery Padfoot!)

3: Barty Jr. ( He will get his – wait some!)

4: Voldie (Another 2 years in Albania for snakeface)

5: L. Malfoy (simply put - fd!)

BTW, if you want to read a really good fic., goto schnoogle and search for joe6991. read "the sword of the hero" and "the defiance of the hero". This guy is GOD!!!

**Read and Review!!!!!!!**


	17. Gotcha!

Rita Skeeter was mildly surprised to wake up to the sight of seeing the Boy-Who-Lived whistling merrily to some odd tune with his back resting against a grand birch tree.

"How can you be so calm after what you told me?" she asked him indignantly.

"Well, Rita if you have seen what I have seen, then you learn to accept things and make the best out of a given situation. So I understand that you will be doing the expose on Lucius Malfoy, pureblood and upstanding member of the British Wizard Community?" Harry asked her with a smirk.

"Of course. How could I not?" she finished with a dangerous yet oddly determined glint in her eye.

Harry gave her a calculating look and then proceeded to get up from his sitting position and after dusting off the dust from his hands; he made a gesture to shake her hand.

"All the best then!" With a firm handshake, he sauntered walked off towards Number 4 Privet Drive without turning around.

* * *

The day finally arrived when Vernon was to make his business deal and Dobby his dramatic appearance in Harry's bedroom.

Counting down the minutes Harry softly cursed his bad luck and slowly climbed upstairs after the verbal bout with his Uncle about how he was supposed to be a good boy, pretend he did not exist and stay in his room all evening.

The moment he opened his door he was greeted with the sight of Dobby jumping up and down like there was no tomorrow on his rickety old bed. Without making a sound he silently closed the door and leaned against the cupboard.

"Hello Dobby," he said with a slight smile on his face.

To say Dobby was surprised would have been an understatement.

"HARRY POTTER KNOWS DOBBY?" he exclaimed with his eyes pooping out.

"How can that be? Dobby has never met Harry Potter before. Such a great wizard he is. But Dobby is not supposed to be here! Dobby must warn Harry Potter that he must not return to Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year. Evil is being plotted and DOBBY MUST WARN HARRY POTTER BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE," he said shrieking out the last part.

Before the little house elf could bang his hand on the dresser table about how he must not betray his masters, Harry quickly caught hold of him and gently placed him on the bed by his side.

With a soft sigh, Harry gathered his thoughts and wondered how he was going to get his thoughts across to the easily excitable house-elf.

"Listen Dobby, the powers-that-be have informed me all about the evil plot that you are warning me about. I know everything there is to know about who is going to do what at the end of the summer holidays and the consequences of that. But don't worry. I have a plan and already set it into motion. Everything will turn out to be all right. OK?"

Dobby by this time was looking at the wizard he had heard so much about from his fellow house-elves with wide wondrous eyes and without warning started bawling like a small child. "Harry Potter is a great wizard – that he is. Dobby trusts Harry Potter. But Dobby is sorry to have stolen Harry Potter's letters." He removed a huge bundle of letters from his back and apologized profusely about how he thought that if Harry Potter thought that his friends don't like him, he would choose not to go to Hogwarts.

Before he could start banging his head for the third time that evening, Harry caught hold of the dirty pillow case that covered his body and with a hard look in his face that softened when seeing the house elf's wide eyes, softly told him "Don't punish yourself Dobby. You have done nothing wrong. Although I am slightly angry with you, I won't hold it against you. Go back to hour home and wait for the events to unfold. I can promise you one thing. I may not be able to get you your freedom but I will help your kind and YOU for that matter, whenever you need me. So just give me my letters and leave with goodwill. Consider me indebted to you for your concern and your warning. HE will get his comeuppance soon."

Tears flowed gently down the little house-elf's eyes and with a serene expression he folded his hands across his chest and vanished into thin air.

* * *

Harry had written to Ron about staying with him at the Burrow. Ron whole-heartedly greeted the idea and managed to surrey him to his house with the help of his twin brothers and a flying Ford Angelica. Though Mrs. Weasley was none too pleased with her sons for taking out their father's enchanted car without permission she forgave them immediately when she saw Harry and with a bright expression proceeded to pamper him with food and other motherly gestures that Harry had missed out on for so long.

Finally the day arrived when they were to go to Diagon Alley and Rita Skeeter was to carry out her part of the deal.

Harry stepped into the grate and clearly shouted out 'DIAGON ALLEY', careful that he would not land up in Knockturn Alley, like he had last time.

After buying all their nitty-gritty's the Weasley's and Harry proceeded towards Flourish and Blott's where they met Hermione and after warm hugs went inside the bookstore. Mr. Weasley immediately struck a conversation with the Grangers about various muggle contraptions and how they were finding the wizarding world. Harry meanwhile had been spotted by Gilderoy Lockhart and was compelled to get his photo taken with the man.

No sooner had Lockhart's vice like grip released him and a swooning Mrs. Weasley offered to get his books autographed by him, he heard someone whose head he literally wanted to bash in.

"Bet you loved that, didn't you Potter," he snarled.

'Draco Malfoy. Oh Shit. Here goes nothing. Where are you Rita? You better not mess this up.'

When Ginny came to his rescue, Draco gave them all a look as if they were filth - "Oh look , Potter's got himself a girlfriend!"

"Now, Now Draco," a cane with a snake with its fangs protruding out made its way over the little squirt's shoulder and a older replica of Draco Malfoy made his appearance from behind him.

"Be polite! Ah. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Lucius Malfoy. You must be the Harry Potter."

"Your scar is a legend Mr. Potter," he said revealing it with his cane, "As was the wizard who gave it to you."

"Ms. Granger, I presume?" he said turning towards Hermione. "Of course, Draco has told me all about you."

"And red hair, hand me down clothes and tattered books. You must be the Weasley's!"

While Lucius Malfoy was busy removing the few books from Ginny's cauldron and then putting them back in with a new addition, he didn't notice a witch with huge glasses and a exquisite dragon hide purse coming closer towards him, along with another middle aged wizard with a huge camera in his hands.

It was only when the camera went off with a bright flash that Lucius Malfoy realized his actions had been caught on official Daily Prophet record.

"Hello, Mr. Malfoy. I am Rita Skeeter from the Daily Prophet. Might I have a look as to what you just now put into this unsuspecting little girl's cauldron? It seemed to me that it was a _diary_ of some sort," she finished with a sweet smile on her face.

The expression on Lucius Malfoy's was very reminiscent of the one time in his childhood, when his most strict mother had caught him with his hand stuck in a cookie jar.

'Take that you piece of Thestral Dropping!' Harry thought with a innocent expression mirrored on his face.

* * *

**Please Read and Review.**

**A/N: I really welcome any suggestions that you give me and will try to incorporate them as best as I can.**

Thanks to all those who reviewed earlier…

**OldNick**: I got a new HD. Yayyy!

**Night-Owl-123**: Here it is.

**Lucasfsf**: I will try to set a decent pace to the story. It may race through the years, yeah, or it may become slightly slow where JKR has a major plot element which even I can't avoid. I don't want to entirely make this fic. into an AAU.

**Jbfritez**: I updated!

Thanks** Shawn, possom2009 **and **saetan **for your reviews

I wonder where my FAVORITE reviewer **Solilel Luna **is?


	18. Chicken Soup for the Soul

**SHOCKING PLOT UNEARTHED TO BRING BACK**

**YOU-KNOW-WHO**

_Rita Skeeter_

_On assignment to The Daily Prophet_.

We live in peaceful times; well-liked by the rest of the wizarding world and known for our kind, good hearted people, and wise leaders. But everyone once in a while, a Dark Lord comes along who manages to tear apart our cohesive nation into a fragmented land, whose fearful people are torn apart by pure-blooded assumptions, ethnic issues, or simple economic division. Corrupt politicians are pawns to be played in the hands of such Dark Lords, and are taken advantage of by whispered promises of further power and wealth. The minions of such Dark Lords kill freely and sometimes in these times of grave peril, there is no end of the slaughter in sight as they roam about the country unhindered.

The most recent example of such a Dark Lord has been _You-Know-Who_. The reporter, herself admits to being scared stiff of using the Dark Lord's actual name alongwith thousands of other citizens of the British wizardry world. Such is the fear we are in of someone who has been long gone since more than a decade!

But that is not what I want to talk about here in these pages of The Daily Prophet that will be circulated freely among the wizardry poplulace of Britian.

After the demise of _You-Know-Who_, a number of trials were conducted for his captured minions. A fair number of them were given the Dementor's kiss, while some were carted of to the dark fortress of Azkaban to remain under the watchful eyes of the Dementor guards. We were assured of a peaceful world once more where our children could grow up without the constant threat of torture or the black shorud of death surrounding them. The _Ministry of Magic_ had fulfilled its solemn duty to guard and protect us from these Dark Wizards who lacked basic humanity and operated without a shred of conscience.

Or has it?

What many of us don't know is that a small number of the Dark Lord's captured minions are still living amongst us under the guise of upstanding members of our society. They claimed to be under the effects of the unforgivable _Imperious_ curse. Yes, it is true that the Dark Lord used the _Imperious_ curse to control people who resisted him, as was made abundantly clear when the confessions of his Death Eaters came out. But were our prudent politicians, who were in such a hurry to deliver free and fair trails to all and quickly done over with delivering justice and pass their sentences, careful enough to check the testimony of these 'upsatnding wizards' under the truth serum _Veritaserum_?

Sadly the answer to the question posed above is a big _NO. _"Give _Veritaserum_ to these pureblood pillars of our society. It's an outrage! Shocking absolutely!" That was the reponse of some of our politicians at that time. And so without checking for the truth and accuracy of the testimonails given by these Dark Wizards and Witches, they were given apologies by the Ministry of Magic for their erroneous capture and let off scott-free.

Without their master to guide them, every once in a while these power hungry wizards, who secretly have dreamed their entire life of just once having total control over the lives of other human beings, eagerly hatch horrendous plots to savor that feeling of power that was abruptly snatched away from them, after the Dark Lord's sudden demise by the _Boy-Who-Lived_.

One such plot came to light yesterday under the very eyes of your devoted Daily Prophet reporter Rita Skeeter and Daily Prophet photographer, Clipeus Adlevo.

Lucius Malfoy, earlier suspected of being one of the Dark Lord's Lieutentant, was caught red-handed trying to implant a Class – I Dark Artifact into the possesions of an eleven year old, unsuspecting witch, Ginny Weasely - only daughter of Arthur Weasely, an honest and hardworking wizard in the _Department of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts_. The artifact in question is rumored to be a diray of the _You-Know-Who's_ sixteen year old self and is enchanted to possess whoever writes into it for too long a duration by stealing their life force and thus possibly re-incarnate the Dark Lord.

The evidence for this shocking act of cruelty, which could quite possibly have led to the poor girl's untimely death, has been captured on camera and before the Minstry could cry foul and tamper with the evidence, a unanimous descision was made by the Daily Prophet staff to print these photgraphs. Turn to Pgs. 2-3 to see how Lucius Malfoy skillfully planted this Diary into the hands of the first year Hogwarts student.

The question we must ask ourselves is now will our legislators, some of whom are believed to have been already purchased by the deep pockets of Lucius Malfoy and his associates, apologise to him once again for damaging his reputation, for his capture by the Department of Law Enforcement just like sixteen years ago, or will true justice finally be served?

The choice is yours my fellow citizens, to reclaim the Ministry from few corrupt heathens who control it, and see that the guilty are made to pay for their unpunished crimes.

* * *

'Masterful, simply masterful Rita! One down, many more to go…' sighed Harry mentally in the comfortable bed that had in placed in Ron's shocking orange room at the Burrow.

"Sweet dreams Malfoy," he softly uttered before closing his eyes and preparing to goto sleep.

"What was that Harry?" Ron's voice queried.

"Huh? Oh nothing. Just thinking is all. How's Ginny taking all this Ron?"

Ron's face darkened immediately at the thought of Lucius Malfoy planting the diary in his sweet, innocent baby sister's cauldron. "She's fine. A bit dazed by it, but I guess she will be fine when things settle down. I must thank that reporter Harry some day. What was her name? Oh yeah, Rita Skeeter."

"Mum once told me that she was a no-good woman. Guess her opinion must've changed by know. Whaddya reckon Harry? We are really indebted to her for saving Ginny!"

"Oh yeah, she must have been a terribly brave and nice person to have written that article. I must thank her some time ..."

With a small smile on his face, Harry Potter slowly ambled off to the land of dreams, patiently waiting for the day when he would return for his second year at Hogwart's and a chance to see his sweetheart's sorting, something which he had earlier missed owing to Dobby's attempt at saving his life by closing the gateway.

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**Please Read and Review. Thanks!**

**Soliel**** Luna:** Well, the last time I read CoS was about 3 years back. So yep, you are absolutely right when you surmised that I borrowed the dialogues from the movie! And yeah - I really, really appreciate all of your reviews and input. Even though you might get a wee bit lazy and not review, I now know that you are reading this fic. That makes me want to write more and update sooner. So here it is. The 18th chapter….

**Night-Owl123**: It's here!

**jbfritz**: Malfoy Sr. is Fd! He won't be able to get outta this one. Skeeter made sure of that. But hey whaddya know. Watch out for Chpt 19.

**GwEnDoLyN**** P. MaLfOy :** It is DEFINETLY Harry/Luna. I wouldn't have it any other way. Though I like reading H/Any female, H/L definitely strikes a chord with me, and that's why I chose to do it. Thanks for your review!

**borne-shadow-childe**: Start a challenge???? Nah. To do that I guess you need to have a really wide audience. I am just gonna concentrate on AAI for the moment. Maybe you can suggest some challenge that is wacky, yet original and has real possibilities for a follow-up.

**Athenakitty**: Harry definitely is having a whole lot of fun. Keep reading – it gets better.


	19. The End Or Is It?

Good News!

Lady Kanko Wildstar has taken over this story.

You can check for updates on the story here: www-dot-fanfiction-dot-net-slash-u-slash-923083-slash


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